Lenny - the lies have been posted here ad nausea. Then they are ignored as if they never happened. This is my issue with BB. If you and your group has found a way to gainfully employee 36 Pro Players and it is the real deal, then just be real about it.
It started with that Barry and his ShamWow of every little thing about BB. That was more annoying than productive in getting interest in the game or the WPBL. Bonus Ball needs a trained, serious PR person or staff. They need to train the people already involved how to act and take the lead in all actions in this area as well.
The scheduling issues don't make sense. The schedule isn't exact. Some teams, even without the tournaments involved only played 1 match while others played 3. It could have been worked around. It is definitely obvious that it was made to not work around.
I don't have the energy to find the quote but someone already posted how Nathan took credit for setting up the stream and all the nuances of it. Then when it failed, it wasn't his fault. Then he added a new thingamabob, that failed and it still wasn't his fault.
Nathan is only the producer when something goes wrong but he developed on his own a new way to cut pockets in a pool table. That would be like the producer of Monday Night Football saying he invented a new artificial turf. What is next - are we going to here that Bonus Balls are actually more perfectly round than any ball ever played with before?
A contractor did work or didn't do work in the building for 6 months and no one, not Larry, not his staff, not his mother was there to oversee it.
BB is on CBS news. No BB is on local CBS news.
The viewership, stream #s, website views. Big lies.
All the players love BB. I along with others have gotten messages directly that are the contrary.
I've had other info told to me that hasn't even been posted here. I can't confirm or deny so I haven't posted it but it all seems strange.
Lastly, and again you can say this is no one's business, but BB hasn't told anyone how they plan to put the money in the register. If you go back, as I posted, and read some of the interviews - first it was TV. Then it was PPV. Now it is all a big secret. Here's a secret - no one is going to steal your idea cause no one is going to put 1.5 million into pool on the if/come. Keeping it a secret just makes it to me and others that BB doesn't have a clue what they are doing. Looks like you are trying to nail jello to a wall. Keep trying but all I can see is that turning into a big mess.
I have to say Steve that the problems that have happened can be twisted to be someones fault who is not responsible. Larry was not responsible for the construction delays, he was being given a run around and ripped off. There was trust put into the contractors because of them doing work in the past with no problems but they came with excuses about permits and this and that. They really had lost their license and were stalling, you did not believe that either and wanted to check up on it and I am sure you saw it was not a lie and a fact.
When Larry found out what there delays were really about and then got rid of them and had to find a new crew to come in and pick up where the old crew left off. I have worked construction doing houses when I was young but to be honest I just thought these guys were being a bit slow with stuff and maybe milking the job. We had the first delay and they made promises to be done I believe in January and when we came back from the holidays there was very little accomplished which was when they were found out.
As for Nathan, streaming is not what he does and I and many others do it on a turnkey level meaning using Ustream or those who use Audio Video Web which is simple and reliable. Ustream is all great for free streaming and Audio Video Web is reliable for PPV but also cuts into the profit margin. So I believe Nathan chose a different route and hired people to set that up and they failed, then they said we had too much traffic and gave numbers, so it was then upgraded by them and failed again. They had no idea what they were doing and the server they had us on would never work right.
Now with the construction delays and streaming troubles out of the way things are going smoothly. If and when you get to Vegas then stop by and check it out, it is hardly the mess it is portrayed to be on this forum. A nice intimate arena with the best players in the world is what you will see. I do not know what players you speak of but I am sure that some do not like the game just like some fans do not, you cannot please everyone but most players I have spoke with are happy to be working and realize this is a chance even if you all have it counted out.
Has there been things that have been our faults?, sure there has but the construction was not nor the streaming or even equipments failure which is bound to happen when dealing with all the things in that building. We have had air conditioning units going out, a router go on the fritz and other equipment too, things happen plain and simple, nothing is perfect and to expect it to all run like so in a new venture is naive. Things though are getting better every day and improved.
You mentioned in the past that you did not understand why we could not have set up and tested months back, it was not possible and shows you have no idea what is going on. The construction in the arena had to be done before we could run hundreds of wires, mount and hang the audio, video and lighting equipment, and obviously you cannot test all of that until its done. Setting up on our side of it was something that takes weeks to do and not days either. We did all we could around the construction like in the control room and obviously setting up the cameras, assembling lighting, the other things had to wait simple as that.
I posted that CBS was there, there was no misleading people, sorry I did not state it was local in my original post and not national but anyone could see that who watched the video. To me it is a good deal of people picking and twisting things along with negativity. How about appreciating that pro pool is on TV whether it is CBS in a major city instead of dismissing it since it was not national, I am sure that it reached tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas where the venue is located. I just do not get some of it really, people focusing on negatives instead of the positives but some people just live life that way.
The players enjoy the game and are making more money then they were last year so its good for the players which to me I feel is very important. If the league makes money and does well then the players make more money too and perhaps more teams are put together with more players. If this fails then pool goes back to where it was plain and simple and that will just be sad because we know its a rough life for most pro players.
You are right we are not PR people but forum members and we wanted to give members here the inside look on some things and also combat misinformation given on the forums. I know Barry was gung ho and all on here and we all agreed it was a bit ridiculous and embarrassing too, Barry is not a part of Bonus Ball anymore. Certain things though I cannot speak on or produce like people asking in poor taste to show a million dollars in a bank account and also the business plan. I believe since many years back the plan has changed as do some other businesses when they research what might work and not along with opportunities that are presented as you hit the ground running.
My biggest beef on here is that something new and fresh is being done along with a good deal of money for pool being spent and you have some people on a forum wanting to tear it apart, put it down or see it fail. I do not expect everyone to support it or any of that, I just expect that if you are not supporting it then don't bash it. Having an opinion is one thing but beating it to the ground and coming in every thread posting misinformation just shows some peoples agenda and also their ties to one another.
I am just happy that someone is trying to do something instead of doing nothing or the same old stuff that has pool where it is at the moment. There are members pissed off and industry leaders also crying that it will hurt their tournaments but it has not even happened yet and they are blaming Bonus Ball. My opinion is that will not happen and then they can pick on the choice of table, pocket cut and all the other nitty stuff, it is kind of amusing in a sad way.
I also hate the fact that the pool politics that have damaged and held back this game are right in your face and people on here with their eyes open can see that. Talking about restricting players from future events because of them playing Bonus Ball and wanting to put food on the table is petty and sad, I am sure everyone can agree on that.
Bonus Ball has allowed the players to chose whatever events they want to play in and have done the best they can to work around other events that the players selected. They are not locked down and without a choice, so how much fairer can you be?
The talk of shutting down a week here and there during the season costing thousands of dollars is bad business and make no sense along with the fact that you need to be bringing the show to people every week online and at the venue or otherwise they tune in or show up and wonder why its not happening. I have never heard of a business shutting down to accommodate another. Mark Griffin mentioned that the players should not have to chose but I would rather have a choice then none at all and for some going to certain events is not an option financially or one that makes sense so they would be sitting home with no income so that is not the brightest idea.
Sorry for writing a book like I usually do but I do not like to cherry pick and quote one sentence so I try to address nearly everything and give my long winded opinion. I wish people would give their opinion and realistic suggestions on how to improve things and make things work instead of just putting down the effort made. I am done with all of this negativity though and tired honestly of focusing on this negative crap so I hope to be posting more in the future about the positive things which there are many. The bad things that happened in the past are just that and if people want to be stuck there then have fun with it but Bonus Ball is moving forward into the future fighting the good fight. :smile:
P.S. Is this the longest AZ post ever? Thanks to those members who took the time to read it and also are being open minded. :embarrassed2:
